Character Design (Colin Cairney)
Written by Colin Cairney (1601232) Samuel (Sam) Devine The main protagonist, Sam is a high school senior in the sleepy town of Areredale, MI, with no idea what the future holds for him or where he wants to take it. Too laid-back for his own good, Sam’s grades are slipping, and he is only barely scraping passes. With two successful parents, Sam often feels he’ll never be able to make his mother and father proud and as such doesn’t even attempt to. This leads to Sam often feeling undeserving of all the good things in his life. Sam’s lack of general motivation has put a strain on every aspect of his life, often leading him to flake on his best friend Ashley. Despite his nonchalant attitude, Sam is generally quite an upbeat person. Being so laid-back gives him the benefit of being a very low-maintenance person; it doesn’t take a lot to please him and he can generally get along with anyone. However, this doesn’t apply to airhead Axel King, who teases both Sam and Ashley relentlessly. Ashley and Sam indulge in Axel’s harassment for the most part, often laughing it off and doing the same thing straight back to Axel. On a fateful school field trip, Sam stumbles upon an intriguing ring on the floor of a gift shop restroom. Alone in the restroom, Sam put the ring on one of his fingers and witnessed his reflection disappear from the mirror. In total shock, Sam took off the ring only to witness his reflection reappear. With ring in tow, Sam left the restroom, and made a promise to himself to not to tell a soul about his discovery. With such a powerful tool at his disposal, it is up to Sam to decide what he can use the ring for. Can he help other people? Or should he focus on just helping himself? What will the ring lead him to discover? Ashley (Ash) Sallow Sam’s closest friend since freshman year, Ashley and Sam met when Sam accidently walked into the female restroom on the first day of high school. The two have been unstoppable duo ever since, despite Ash never letting Sam forget the incident. After her mother died while Ashley was a young child, Ashley was raised solely by her father. The death of her mother made it hard for Ashley to get close to anyone out of fear that they too could leave her life at any moment. This caused her to spend much of her time with her father, allowing the two to form an extremely close bond. Ashley prides herself most on her independence. She is an unstoppable force of nature and always ensures she gets her own way. Despite her hardy attitude, deep down she is insecure. She often pretends that nothing phases her when in reality she overthinks every moment. Although both Sam and Ashley have a lot in common, the two clash when it comes to motivation. Ashley is very driven and has her life after high school planned out whereas Sam hasn’t put a single thought into it. However, Ashley is determined to make sure Sam gets his life together, often looking for opportunities to help him. Despite this, Ashley only has so much patience and often gets sick of Sam’s attitude. With Sam’s sudden drop in attendance at school, Ashley is often left alone to face the brunt of Axel’s bullying by herself, something she can only put up with for so long. ' ' Axel King Brash and rude, Axel comes across as an egocentric villain, harassing anyone he knows he’ll get a reaction from. Axel has a special vendetta against both Ashley and Sam after they both laughed at him for asking a silly question in class one time. With his father out of the picture, Axel lives only with his mother who is often out of the country. However, when both she and Axel are in the same room it never ends well. Axel’s mother constantly nit-picks everything about her son; the way speaks, dresses, and acts. She fears that her son is too “feminine” and dislikes the implications that entails. This is often the reason as to why Axel acts out and mistreats others. With the power of the ring, Sam can see more into Axel’s home life, and discovers that maybe Axel may feel something that’s the opposite of resentment towards him. Greg Sallow Greg is the welcoming and charming single father of Ashley. Greg often treats Sam as his own son and is often seen as a father-figure to Sam more than his own father. With a comfortable job, Greg happily makes his living to ensure the best quality of life for his daughter. However, Greg isn’t the person who he appears to be. Through the invisibility that the ring grants, Sam can discover Greg’s dark secret. With access to Greg’s personal devices, Sam discovers a sinister link between Greg and a several missing persons cases from across the state.